During World War II, 428,335 individuals, including partisans, are believed to have received Red Armysniper training, and of those 9,534 obtained higher-level qualifications.[2] Unlike the militaries of other nations, these snipers could be men or women.[3] Between 1941–1945, a total of 2,484 Soviet female snipers were functioning in this role, of whom about 500 survived the war.[4][5]

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In 1932, the "sharpshooters' movement" started under the supervision of Kliment Voroshilov. In 1938, Red Army snipers took part in the Battle of Lake Khasan against troops of the Imperial Japanese Army;[6] the most successful Soviet use of snipers during the second world war was during their defensive stages (1941–1943)[citation needed], after which the advantage of defense shifted to the German side and German snipers became a real danger to the advancing Soviets.

Soviet and Soviet-derived military doctrines include squad-level snipers, which may be called "sharpshooters" or "designated marksmen" in other doctrines (see the "Sniper" article), they do so because the long-range engagement ability was lost to ordinary troops when submachine guns (which are optimized for close-range, rapid-fire combat) were adopted.

Soviet military doctrine used snipers for providing long-distance suppressive fire and for eliminating targets of opportunity, especially leaders, because during World War II, Soviet military leaders and combat theorists (Vassili Zaitsev contributed greatly to Soviet sniper doctrine, although he was officially neither of these) found that military organisations have difficulty replacing experienced non-commissioned officers and field officers during times of war, they found that the more expensive and less rugged sniper rifles could match the cost-effectiveness of a cheaper assault rifle given good personnel selection, training, and adherence to doctrine. The Soviet Union used women for sniping duties, including Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Nina Lobkovskaya.

After the war, the standard Soviet Army sniper team consisted of two soldiers.[7]

After the introduction of the Dragunov sniper rifle, the Soviet army deployed snipers at platoon level; those snipers were often chosen from personnel who did well in terms of rifle marksmanship while members of DOSAAF. Such snipers were estimated to have a 50% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at 800 m (875 yd), and an 80% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at 500 m (547 yd). For distances not exceeding 200 m (219 yd) the probability was estimated to be well above 90%. To attain this level of accuracy the sniper could not engage more than two such targets per minute.[8]

In 1940, the Red Army adopted the 7.62mm SVT-40semi-automatic sniper rifle with a PU optical sight (7,62-мм снайперская винтовка СВТ-40 c оптическим прицелом ПУ) as their second model of standard sniper rifle. Due to several problems, including accuracy issues and muzzle flash, as well as being complex and slow to manufacture, production ceased in October 1941, and work began on developing the PU version of the Mosin–Nagant.[9]

In 1941 several 7.62mm SVT-40semi-automatic sniper rifles with a PU optical sight were converted in full-auto sniper rifles.

Later, the Red Army acquired a small number of AVS-36, which were converted into self-loading sniper rifles with PE optical sights (АВС-36 с оптическим прицелом ПЕ обр. 1931 года)[10][13]

The three most common sniper rifles employed by the Soviet Union were the Mosin–Nagant, the Tokarev SVT-40, and later in 1963, the SVD; the first purpose built designated marksmen's rifle.

The sniper version of the Mosin–Nagant rifle was used before, during, and after World War II, it used the standard bolt action 1891/30 infantry rifle as a platform, though rifles destined for conversion were hand-selected for quality and accuracy. Four-power scopes were added, and came in two versions; the PE scope was a copy of a German Zeiss scope, manufactured by Emil Busch AG. The PEM model was later introduced as a more reliable, easier to produce scope; the second version of the Mosin–Nagant sniper rifle with PU optical sight, began production late in 1942. This rifle included a simpler scope design, which was incorporated from the short-lived SVT-40, and was far easier to mass-produce. To this day, it remains the most widely produced and longest serving sniper rifle in the world, and remained the Soviet Union's main sniper rifle until it was superseded in 1962 by the semi-automatic SVD Dragunov rifle.

The SVD (Снайперская винтовка Драгунова) was officially adopted by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1963,[11] though issued as early as 1958; the SVD was the Soviet Union's answer to requests for an updated sniper weapon. The rifle retained the use of the same 7.62×54mmR ammunition, but is a semi-automatic gas-operated rifle with a detachable 10-round box-style magazine. The SVD continues to be the standard sniper rifle of several countries, including those of former Warsaw Pact countries now NATO members.

The role of a Soviet sniper is portrayed in the video game Call of Duty: World at War. On one of the maps, an injured sniper, Viktor Reznov (who gives the player "Dimitri Petrenko" the job of sniping) runs around to tempt German snipers into opening fire, revealing their position and allowing the player to snipe them.

The 2015 film Battle for Sevastopol is a joint Ukrainian-Russian film biography of Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, set during the 1941–42 siege of the Crimea. True to life, after being wounded, Lyudmila is evacuated to the United States, where she meets with Eleanor Roosevelt in a public relations campaign.

In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". Suppression is only effective for the duration of the fire, it is one of three types of fire support, defined by NATO as "the application of fire, coordinated with the maneuver of forces, to destroy, neutralize or suppress the enemy." Before NATO defined the term, the British and Commonwealth armies used "neutralization" with the same definition as suppression. NATO now defines neutralization as "fire delivered to render a target temporarily ineffective or unusable." Suppressive fire achieves its effect by threatening casualties to individuals who expose themselves to it. Willingness to expose themselves varies depending on the morale and leadership of the target troops. Suppressive fire is used as covering fire, defined by NATO as "Fire used to protect troops when they are within range of enemy small arms." This is sometimes called "winning the firefight" in an infantry-only action.

However, suppressive fire may be used against indirect firers, enemy air defenses or other military activities such as construction work or logistic activities, or to deny an area to the enemy for a short period of time. Using smoke to'blind' enemy observation is a form of non-lethal suppression and at night illuminating flares may be used to suppress enemy activities by denying them the cover of darkness. Suppression can be delivered by any weapon or group of weapons capable of delivering the required intensity of fire for the required period of suppression. However, the suppressive fire capabilities vary because the suppressive effect area varies widely. For example, a rifle or machine gun bullet may only have a suppressive effect within about one metre of its trajectory, whereas a single artillery shell may suppress a few thousand square metres around its burst. Furthermore, sustained suppression over more than a few minutes may be difficult to achieve with small arms fire for logistic reasons, air delivered suppression is affected by payload limits.

In contrast, artillery can suppress an area for an extended period. The purpose of suppression is to stop or prevent the enemy from observing, moving or carrying out other military tasks that interfere with the activities of friendly forces. An important feature of suppressive fire is that it is only effective while it lasts and that it has sufficient intensity. Suppressive fire requires sufficient intensity over the target area, intensity being the suppressive effect per unit of target area per unit of suppression time. Weapons vary in their suppressive capabilities, which are the threat signaled by the noise of projectiles in flight and their impact. Suppressive fire is a tactic to reduce casualties to friendly forces and enable them to conduct their immediate mission. For example, a suppressed target will be unable to engage vulnerable forces that are moving without cover; this enables forces to close with the enemy. For example, a US Marines article notes that "communication and suppressive fire are what enables movement on the battlefield, giving Marines the upper hand."

Suppressive fire may be used to enable a helicopter or boat to land or extract soldiers from a battle zone. The primary intended effect of suppressive fire is psychological. Rather than directly trying to kill enemy soldiers, it makes the enemy soldiers feel unable to safely perform any actions other than seeking cover. Colloquially, this goal is expressed as "it makes them keep their heads down" or "it keeps them pinned down". However, depending on factors including the type of ammunition and the target's protection, suppressive fire may cause casualties and/or damage to enemy equipment. Suppressive fire is used as covering fire against the enemy in the close combat zone. However, suppressive fire delivered by artillery and other indirect fire means can be used to suppress targets of any type, most notably as counter-battery fire against indirect fire units. NATO defines'suppression of enemy air defenses', which has a broader definition and includes materiel damage. An important consideration in the application of suppressive fire from indirect fire systems and aircraft is the safety of the attacking troops.

Fragmenting munitions are indiscriminate and lethal in all directions around the point of burst although the pattern and extent of the lethal area depends on several variable factors, some specific to each situation. In modern warfare, overwatch is a force protection tactic: the state of one small unit or military vehicle supporting another unit, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can observe the terrain ahead likely enemy positions; this allows it to provide effective covering fire for advancing friendly units. An ideal overwatch position provides cover for the unit, unobstructed lines of fire, it may be on a height of ground or at the top of a ridge, where a vehicle may be able to adopt a hull-down position. If the overwatching unit is in a position to fire over advancing friendly units, great care must be taken not to let fire fall short; the friendly units should be within tracer burnout. World War I marked a step change because of the development of artillery techniques and the protection provided by trenches.

The opening of the country after two centuries of seclusion subsequently led to the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War in 1868. The domains of Satsuma and Chōshū came to dominate the coalition against the shogunate. On 27 January 1868, tensions between the shogunate and imperial sides came to a head when Tokugawa Yoshinobu marched on Kyoto, accompanied by a 15,000-strong force consisting of troops, trained by French military advisers, they were opposed by 5,000 troops from the Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa domains. At the two road junctions of Toba and Fushimi just south of Kyoto, the two forces clashed. On the second day, an Imperial banner was given to the defending troops and a relative of the Emperor, Ninnajinomiya Yoshiaki, was named nominal commander in chief, in effect making the pro-imperial forces an Imperial army; the bafuku forces retreated to Osaka, with the remaining forces ordered to retreat to Edo. Yoshinobu and his closest advisors left for Edo by ship; the encounter at Toba–Fushimi between the imperial and shogunate forces marked the beginning of the conflict.

With the court in Kyoto behind the Satsuma-Chōshū-Tosa coalition, other domains that were sympathetic to the cause—such as Tottori and Hizen —emerged to take a more active role in military operations. Western domains that had either supported the shogunate or remained neutral quickly announced their support of the restoration movement; the nascent Meiji state required a new military command for its operations against the shogunate. In 1868, the "Imperial Army" being just a loose amalgam of domain armies, the government created four military divisions: the Tōkaidō, Tōsandō, San'indō, Hokurikudō, each of, named for a major highway. Overseeing these four armies was a new high command, the Eastern Expeditionary High Command, whose nominal head was prince Arisugawa-no-miya, with two court nobles as senior staff officers; this connected the loose assembly of domain forces with the imperial court, the only national institution in a still unformed nation-state. The army continually emphasized its link with the imperial court: firstly.

To supply food and other supplies for the campaign, the imperial government established logistical relay stations along three major highways. These small depots held stockpiled material supplied by local pro-government domains, or confiscated from the bafuku and others opposing the imperial government. Local villagers were impressed as porters to move and deliver supplies between the depots and frontline units; the new army fought under makeshift arrangements, with unclear channels of command and control and no reliable recruiting base. Although fighting for the imperial cause, many of the units were loyal to their domains rather than the imperial court. In March 1869, the imperial government created various administrative offices, including a military branch; the imperial court told the domains to restrict the size of their local armies and to contribute to funding a national officers' training school in Kyoto. However, within a few months the government disbanded both the military branch and the imperial bodyguard: the former was ineffective while the latter lacked modern weaponry and equipment.

To replace them, two new organizations were created. One was the military affairs directorate, composed of two bureaus, one for the army and one for the navy; the directorate drafted an army from troop contributions from each domain proportional to each domain's annual rice production. This conscript army integrated samurai and commoners from various domains into its ranks; as the war continued, the military affairs directorate expected to raise troops from the wealthier domains and, in June, the organization of the army was fixed, where each domain was required to send ten men for each 10,000 koku of rice produced. However, this policy put the imperial government in direct competition with the domains for military recruitment, not rectified until April 1868, when the government banned the domains from enlisting troops; the quota system never worked as intended an

A cartridge is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile, a propellant substance and an ignition device within a metallic, paper or plastic case, made to fit within the barrel chamber of a breechloading gun, for the practical purpose of convenient transportation and handling during shooting. Although in popular usage the term "bullet" is used to refer to a complete cartridge, it is used only to refer to the projectile. Cartridges can be categorized by the type of their primers — a small charge of an impact- or electric-sensitive chemical mixture, located at the center of the case head, inside the rim of the case base, in a sideway projection, shaped like a pin or a lip, or in a small nipple-like bulge at the case base. Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition; some artillery ammunition uses the same cartridge concept. In other cases, the artillery shell is separate from the propellant charge. A cartridge without a projectile is called a blank.

One, inert is called a dummy. One that failed to ignite and shoot off the projectile is called a dud, one that ignited but failed to sufficiently push the projectile out of the barrel is called a squib; the primary purpose is to be a handy all-in-one for a shot. In modern, automatic weapons, it provides the energy to move the parts of the gun which make it fire repeatedly. Many weapons were designed to make use of a available cartridge, or a new one with new qualities; the cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore. A firing pin ignites it; the primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate. A jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall; these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to this pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance, down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the chamber pressure drops to atmospheric pressure.

The case, elastically expanded by chamber pressure, contracts slightly. This eases removal of the case from the chamber. To manufacture brass for cartidges, a sheet of brass is punched into disks; these disks go through a series of punches and dies and are annealed and washed before moving to the next series of dies. Making bullets involves simular type of maching as for making brass cases; the projectile can be made of anything. Lead is a material of choice because of high density, ductility; the propellant was long gunpowder, still in use, but superseded by better compositions, generically called Smokeless powder. Early primer was fine gunpowder poured into a pan or tube where it could be ignited by some external source of ignition such as a fuse or a spark. Modern primers are shock sensitive chemicals enclosed in a small capsule, ignited by percussion. In some instance ignition is electricity-primed, there may be no primer at all in such design; the case is made of brass because it is resistant to corrosion.

A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the high pressures of cartridges, allow for manipulation via extraction and ejection without tearing the metal. The neck and body portion of a brass case is annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in some military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass. Military forces consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, so the lighter steel cases do have a military advantage. Conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the increased strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck and into the chamber. Constituents of these gases condense on the chamber wall; this solid propellant residue can make extraction of fired cases difficult.

This is less of a problem for small arms of the former Warsaw Pact nations, which were designed with much larger chamber tolerances than NATO weapons. Aluminum cased; these are not reloaded as aluminum fatigues during firing and resizing. Some calibers have non-standard primer sizes to discourage reloaders from attempting to reuse these cases. Plastic cases are used in shotgun shells and some manufacturers offer polymercenterfire cartridges. Paper had been used in the earliest cartridges. Critical cartridge specifications include neck size, bullet weight and caliber, maximum pressure, overall length, case body diameter and taper, shoulder design, rim type, etc. Ever

The AVS-36 was a Soviet automatic rifle which saw service in the early years of World War II. It was among the early selective fire infantry rifles formally adopted for military service; the designer, Sergei Simonov, began his work with a gas-operated self-loading rifle in 1930. The first prototype was ready in 1931 and appeared promising, three years a trial batch of an improved design was made. In 1935, a competition between Simonov's design and a rifle made by Fedor Tokarev was held; the Simonov rifle emerged as a winner and was accepted into service as the AVS-36. The AVS-36 was first seen in public in the 1938 May Day parade in Moscow, when it was displayed by the marching 1st Rifle Division; the American public became aware when it was covered in an August 1942 issue of the American Infantry Journal, in an article by John Garrett Underhill, Jr. Once in service, it became apparent that the AVS was not a satisfactory design; the rifle was particular about ammunition quality. The muzzle brake design proved to be a failure — the rifle was nearly uncontrollable in automatic fire.

Some of the problems were traced to the magazine, deemed too long. Production of the AVS-36 was terminated in 1938, a new design competition was held to which Simonov and Tokarev submitted their improved designs. In 1938 Tokarev's SVT-38 was adopted for service. In 1939 a politicized dispute erupted within the Soviet elite as to which design, that of Simonov or that of Tokarev, should prevail. Simonov's rifle was lighter and contained fewer parts, while Tokarev's rifle was considered sturdier, although this was due to firing pin breakages on Simonov's rifle. Both guns had their detractors among the Politburo. Stalin sided with Tokarev, with whom he had a good personal relationship. By a decision of the Defense Committee dated 17 July 1939, mass production was to concentrate on the SVT-38. Official Soviet production breakdown figures are: 106 made in 1934, 286 in 1935, 10,280 made in 1937, 24,401 in 1938, with an estimated total of 65,800 AVS-36s manufactured until production stopped in 1940; the rifle first saw service in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, in the Winter War, but did not perform well.

Some of the problems were caused by incorrect maintenance. About 300 AVS-36 examples were captured by the Finns; the SVT-38s and LS-26s used on the Finnish side suffered from similar problems. After a large amount of the more serviceable SVTs were captured, the AVS-36s were withdrawn from service. In the Soviet Union, the AVS was marginalized and withdrawn from service during 1941, though it saw brief service during World War II; some reports claim that remaining AVSs were scrapped. Today, the AVS-36 is a rare collector's item. Simonov would design an anti-tank rifle, the PTRS-41, the SKS carbine, which employed simpler tilting bolt operation; the AVS-36 was vertical sliding locking block. It was capable of both semi-automatic fire; the barrel was equipped with a large muzzle brake to reduce recoil. Ammunition was in a detachable magazine holding 15 rounds. A knife bayonet was issued with the rifle. A sniper version was produced in small amounts with a PE 4x variable-power optical scope in an offset side-mounted bracket on the left side.

A semi-automatic rifle is a type of self-loading rifle whose action will automatically cycle a new round after each shot, but needs the shooter to release pull the trigger again, to fire another shot. I.e. the gun's trigger must be released for each shot fired. In contrast, a automatic rifle both cycles the cartridges automatically and cycles the hammer/striker automatically when the trigger is pulled, so for the duration of the trigger-pull the full-auto gun will fire rounds continuously until the ammunition is depleted, or until the trigger is released. Semi-automatic weapons use gas, blowback, or recoil energy to eject the spent cartridge after the round has traveled down the barrel, chambers a new cartridge from its magazine, resets the action; the self-loading design was a successor to earlier rifles that required manual-cycling of the weapon after each shot, such as the bolt-action rifle or repeating rifles, which required the operator to manual cycle the action before each shot. The ability to automatically load the next round allowed for an increase in the rounds per minute the operator could fire.

Semi-automatic rifles are versatile designs. They can be efficiently fed by en-bloc clip and internal magazine, detachable magazine or a combination of stripper clip and internal magazine; the first successful design for a gas operated semi-automatic rifle is attributed to Mexican General Manuel Mondragon, who unveiled the design in 1885. Other non-gas operated semi-automatic models were the Model 85 and Mannlicher Models 91, 93 and 95 rifles. In 1903 and 1905, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company introduced the first low power blowback semi-automatic rimfire and centerfire rifles apt for hunting; the Winchester Model 1903 and Winchester Model 1905 operated on the principle of blowback in order to function semi-automatically. Designed by T. C. Johnson, the Model 1903 achieved commercial success and continued to be manufactured until 1932 when the Winchester Model 63 replaced it. By the early 20th century, several manufacturers had introduced semi-automatic.22 rifles, including Winchester, Fabrique Nationale and Savage Arms, all using the direct blow-back system of operation.

Winchester introduced a medium caliber semi-automatic rifle, the Model 1907 as an upgrade to the Model 1905, utilizing a blowback system of operation, in calibers such as.351 Winchester. Both the Models of 1905 and 1907 saw limited police use. In 1906, Remington Arms introduced the "Remington Auto-loading Repeating Rifle." Remington advertised this rifle, renamed the "Model 8" in 1911, as a sporting rifle. This is a long recoil action designed by John Browning; the rifle was offered in.25.30.32, and.35 caliber models, gained popularity among civilians as well as some law enforcement officials who appreciated the combination of a semi-automatic action and powerful rifle cartridges. The Model 81 superseded the Model 8 in 1936 and was offered in.300 Savage as well as the original Remington calibers. In 1908 General Manuel Mondragon patented the world’s first gas-operated semi-automatic rifle, the Mondragón rifle M1908 which allowed Mexico to be the first nation to use a semi auto rifle in battle in 1911, issued to regular troops.

This would be the basis of future semi-automatic firearms to date. After the Mondragon rifle was release France came out with its own semi-automatic rifle the Fusil Automatique Modele 1917; this is a locked breech, gas-operated action, similar in its mechanical principles to the future M1 Garand in the United States. The M1917 was fielded during the latter stages of WWI but it did not receive a favorable reception; however its shortened and improved version, the Model 1918, gave complete satisfaction during the MoroccanRif War from 1920 to 1926. The Lebel bolt-action rifle remained the standard French infantry rifle until replaced in 1936 by the MAS-36 despite the various semi-automatic rifles designed between 1918 and 1935. Other nations experimented with self-loading rifles between the two World Wars, including the United Kingdom, which had intended to replace the bolt-action Lee–Enfield with a self-loading rifle, but discarded that plan as the imminence of the Second World War and the emphasis shifted to speeding-up re-armament with existing weapons.

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany both issued successful self-loading and selective-fire rifles on a large scale during the course of the war, but not in sufficient numbers to replace their standard bolt-action rifles. In 1937, the American M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle to replace its nation's bolt-action rifle as the standard-issue infantry weapon; the gas-operated M1 Garand was developed by Canadian-born John Garand for the U. S. government at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. After years of research and testing, the first production model of the M1 Garand was unveiled in 1937. During World War II, the M1 Garand gave American infantrymen an advantage over their opponents, most of whom were issued slower firing bolt-action rifles; the Soviet AVS-36, SVT-38 and SVT-40, as well as the German Gewehr 43, were semi-automatic gas-operated rifles issued during World War II in small numbers. In practice, they did not replace the bolt-action rifle as a standard infantry weapon of their respective nations.

Another gas-operated semi-automatic rifle developed toward the end of World War II was the SKS. Designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945, it came equipped with a bayonet and could be loaded wi

Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces, though not considered military. Armed forces that are not a part of military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces mimic military organizations, or use ad hoc structures, while formal military organization tends to use hierarchical forms; the use of formalized ranks in a hierarchical structure came into widespread use with the Roman Army. In modern times, executive control and administration of military organization is undertaken by governments through a government department within the structure of public administration known as a Ministry of Defense, Department of Defense, or Department of War; these in turn manage Armed Services that themselves command formations and units specialising in combat, combat support and combat-service support.

The civilian or civilian executive control over the national military organization is exercised in democracies by an elected political leader as a member of the government's Cabinet known as a Minister of Defense. Subordinated to that position are Secretaries for specific major operational divisions of the armed forces as a whole, such as those that provide general support services to the Armed Services, including their dependants. There are the heads of specific departmental agencies responsible for the provision and management of specific skill- and knowledge-based service such as Strategy advice, Capability Development assessment, or Defense Science provision of research, design and development of technologies. Within each departmental agency will be found administrative branches responsible for further agency business specialization work. In most countries the armed forces are divided into three or four Armed services: army and air force. Many countries have a variation on the standard model of four basic Armed Services.

Most smaller countries have a single organization that encompasses all armed forces employed by the country in question. Third-world armies tend to consist of infantry, while first-world armies tend to have larger units manning expensive equipment and only a fraction of personnel in infantry units, it is worthwhile to make mention of the term joint. In western militaries, a joint force is defined as a unit or formation comprising representation of combat power from two or more branches of the military. Gendarmeries, including equivalents such as Internal Troops, Paramilitary Forces and similar, are an internal security service common in most of the world, but uncommon in Anglo-Saxon countries where civil police are employed to enforce the law, there are tight restrictions on how the armed forces may be used to assist, it is common, at least in the European and Nort

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe, and Southeast Europe from 22 …

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 30 December 1922 to 26 December 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a …

A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who operates to maintain effective visual contact with and engage enemy targets from concealed positions or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision …

The 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire and introduced as a service cartridge in 1891. Originally designed for the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant rifle, it was used during the late Tsarist era and throughout the Soviet period to the present day. The cartridge remains …

Examples of 7.62×54mmR ammunition. The photo shows, reading from left to right:

Soviet World War II era service cartridges: (Left to right) 7.62×54mmR, 7.62×39mm, 7.62×25mm.

From left to right: L type bullet with lead core, LPS bullet with steel core aside, green tip T-46M tracer with tracer cup (opened both at top and bottom) and lead tip aside, T-46 tracer with extended cup (opened only at the bottom). All bullet jackets and tracer cups are made from copper washed steel.

A rifle is a portable, long-barrelled firearm designed for long-range precision shooting, to be held with both hands and braced against the shoulder for stability during firing, and with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves cut into the bore walls. The term was originally …

A cartridge is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile, a propellant substance and an ignition device within a metallic, paper or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel …

Calibration in measurement technology and metrology is the comparison of measurement values delivered by a device under test with those of a calibration standard of known accuracy. Such a standard could be another measurement device of known accuracy, a device generating the quantity to be measured …

Automatic calibration - A U.S. serviceman using a 3666C auto pressure calibrator

An instrument rack with tamper-indicating seals

An example of a weighing scale with a ½ ounce calibration error at zero. This is a "zeroing error" which is inherently indicated, and can normally be adjusted by the user, but may be due to the string and rubber band in this case

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total …

The Imperial Japanese Army was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of …

Ukiyo-E, depicting the retreat of shogunate forces in front of the Imperial Army (Kangun). Yodo Castle is shown in the background.

The designated marksman, squad advanced marksman, or squad designated marksman is a military marksman role in an infantry squad. The term sniper was used in Soviet doctrine although the soldiers using the Dragunov SVD were the first to use a specifically designed designated …

A submachine gun is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire pistol cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.The submachine gun was developed during World War I. At its zenith during World War II …

In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". "Suppression is usually only effective for the duration of the fire". It is one of three types of fire support, which is …

U.S. Special Warfare combatant-craft crewmen use a rotating barrel minigun to lay down suppressing fire during a practice "hot" extraction of forces on a beach.

Two US Navy crew chiefs look over the horizon with their .50-cal machine gun and Minigun. Door gunners use machine guns to provide suppressive fire when the helicopter has to land in a hostile area.

A rotating-barrel minigun being fired from a gunship in Vietnam during the war.

Two US Marines providing covering fire with a M4 carbine and a 40 mm M203 grenade launcher while a Marine from Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company spots targets in Ramadi, Iraq, 2006.

A sniper rifle is a high-precision rifle designed for sniper missions. It serves to fulfil the tactical need for long range surveillance, effective anti-personnel and anti-materiel operations with a high hit probability, and can be used by both military, law enforcement and civilian militias. The …

An assault rifle is a selective-fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles were first used during World War II. Though Western nations were slow to accept the assault rifle concept, by the end of the 20th century they had become the standard weapon in …

PSO-1's unique reticle. The rangefinder is in the lower left, chevrons for distances higher than 1km are found in the middle, and stadia marks for windage to the left and right of the center reticule. The reticule is illuminated by a small battery-powered lamp.

SVD rifle featuring a wooden handguard/gas tube cover and skeletonized stock used before the change to synthetic black furniture.

A semi-automatic rifle is a type of self-loading rifle whose action will automatically cycle a new round after each shot, but needs the shooter to manually reset the hammer/striker before the next shot …

Bolt action is a type of firearm action where the handling of cartridges into and out of the weapon's barrel chamber is operated by manually manipulating the bolt directly via a handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon. When the …

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that …

Aliya Nurmuhametqyzy Moldagulova was a Soviet sniper and recipient of the title Hero of the Soviet Union after she died of wounds sustained in battle on 14 January 1944. — Civilian life — Moldagulova was born on October …

The Warsaw Pact, formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland among the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was the …

A Soviet philatelic commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact in 1975 stating that it remains "On guard for Peace and Socialism".

A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity. The term can apply to the field element of resistance movements, examples of which are the civilians who opposed Nazi German …

A non-commissioned officer is a military officer who has not earned a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually obtain their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. In contrast, commissioned officers hold higher ranks than NCOs, have more legal responsibilities, are …

Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya served as a sniper for the Red Army and attained the rank of Lieutenant in a separate sniper unit of the 3rd Shock Army during World War II. In the war she reached 89 confirmed kills, making her the tenth …

Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces, though not considered military. Armed …

A mixed aircraft and ship formation of military vehicles during an exercise with USN and JASDF vehicles.